Members of the community and allies take out pride marches as they celebrate ‘historic day’.

A bunch of youngsters stood holding hands, their eyes glued to the television set in a nondescript office compartment in Vakola, Santacruz, on Thursday morning, as they awaited legal sanction for their identities. The judiciary did not disappoint. As the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment that they would change their lives forever, the group erupted in joy.

Rainbow flags were brought out and badges with the number 377 were hurled in the air. Generously came the hugs, as did the tears. The revelry continued all day long, with a pride parade through several streets of Mumbai in the evening and by a party later.

The jubilation, said Vivek Raj Anand, CEO of city-based NGO Humsafar Trust that LGBTQ rights, has been long pending. “After all, it marks the end of a long battle, a victory I never imagined I would live to see. The LGBTQ community can finally say we are equal citizens of an independent country.”

Anand, along with founder of the trust Ashok Row Kavi and trustee Suhail Abbasi from Mumbai, and their colleagues from Delhi Yashwinder Singh and Gautam Yadav, were among the petitioners against Section 377 in the Supreme Court.

Singh told Mirror from Delhi, “It is a historical day when the biggest democracy of the world has taken a crucial step towards providing equal rights to all its citizens.”

The petitioners, however, cautioned that this is just “one little victory in a huge battle”. “We will now continue our fight and work towards getting other rights for the community like marriage rights, employment rights and striking down anti-discrimination laws,” said Kavi.

It is 2007 in Mumbai. One morning, I am at my desk in the nonprofit I used to work at – the pioneering Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit. We provide legal aid and undertake advocacy on HIV-related issues. This includes working with and for

Shruta Rawat, research manager of Humsafar and founder-member of Yaariyan (an LGBTQ youth support group), too, was restrained in her jubilation. “The court has decriminalised gay sex, but there still is no provision for any kind of legal protection. There will still be bullying of individuals from the community and the stigma among conservative people will still make them prone to nasty experiences,” she said.

Rawat also pointed out that the verdict affects not just LGBTQ persons, but straight couples as well since the act had criminalised any sexual act not deemed ‘natural’ even between consenting heterosexual couples.

Celebrations continued across the country. The mood in Kolkata, the land which stakes claim to initiating pride marches in the country in 1999, was upbeat. Ranjita Saha, transgender activist and writer in the city, said: “This has been long overdue. It is a historic moment.”

Kaushik Gupta, a Calcutta High Court lawyer, called it “a second Independence Day”.

Gopi Shankar Madurai, founder of Tamil Nadu-based Srishti Madurai LGBTQIA+ Student Volunteer Movement in India, said the reading down of the law would open several doors for the community. “It will initiate a larger discourse on ensuring fundamental rights in India.”

“Today, the Supreme Court reaffirmed, loud and clear, that there is nothing criminal in our bodies, identities and loves,” said Ruth Baldacchino, co-secretary general of the Asian region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.

Deeptha Rao from Bengaluru-based Alternative Law Forum decodes the verdict

• No law to be tested by predominant social mores of a time but by constitutional morality

• Same sex couples do automatically get the right to marry or adopt, or to inheritance and protection from domestic violence. This is because most laws are imagined within the male-female heterosexual binary. Yet, the judgment is a step closer to claiming these rights

• Is same sex PDA OK? The judgement places the onus of breaking stereotypes, prejudice and stigma on the Union of India through sensitisation and training for police and media

• A LGBTQIA+ couple can now ask for both their names to appear on a rental agreement